SPOILERS And that incredible one-take robbery sequence shot from the car, with only partial glimpses of what goes on inside, with Rhianna pumping on the stereo. It's a great shot and concept in itself, but it has the added effect of making it extremely effective when we gradually get revealed more and more how the robbery felt like on the inside. SPOILERS

So true, at first I thought it was done that way because of budgetary reasons, or the fact that he thought the actresses wouldn't be able to pull it off to some level of believable. Then later when they flash back, I was like oh damn this shit is raw. I love it when scenes like this are shown one way and then another with an entirely different aesthetic.

For myself, the laugh out loud awesome bits were when they would just cut to the beach, in super slo-mo shots of beer being poured on silicone breasts (being mock ejaculated by bros holding beer bottles to their groins), with dub step pumping fierce on the soundtrack, and voice over of Selena Gomez calling her grandmother talking about how her experience at spring break is the most spiritual she's ever had; including that how some day she wants to take her there so she can experience what she's experiencing. It's such a crazy concept. because we know that part of it is the excitement of a kid who wants to share it with someone close to her, yet has to use the terms and phraseology that her grandmother will identify with. Yet, at the same time she's not lying, it is this spiritual awakening. We know she'd never take her grandmother on spring break, but the guilt side (more than likely coming from her church) is being rationalized by her party side. It could easily be seen as denial, and it might partially be, but if it is, it's so deep down in her subconscious. She is really feeling connected, and strangely, how can we blame her?

And really this leads to the entire point of the film, who are we to judge people connecting with anything, even if it's a packaged hedonistic superfluous side of western culture. The movie perfectly dances between laughing at naivety towards the danger of things that have pop aesthetic and embracing the individual's very pure connection to said experience. James Franco embodies the reality that lives behind the image of extreme hip hop culture, yet at the end of the movie, he becomes a tragic romantic hero worthy of vindication. And it's all done with the most extreme laughs I've had at the cinema in a long time.

There are so many scenes I would love to go into, and maybe I'll save it for future posts when more have seen it. This movie is so fucking gorgeous, and saying so much(?), and rejecting a classic liberal (not just conservative) progressive sense of ethics, and just having a balls out great time at the movies.

It makes you wonder how this film was made, but then you just look to who's financing it:

Harmony Korine is such a passive aggressive shit in interviews and (quasi) documentaries like the one above. You just can't get a straight honest fucking answer or a moment of realness out of him. He's a pathological liar. There's like 10 seconds of sincerity when Gasper shows up--which I loved-- but then it's all bullshit.

By the way, that performance by Val Kilmer in the Fourth Dimension video above is probably some of the best shit I've ever seen him do. Thanks for posting it wilderesque.

Harmony Korine's Novel 'A Crack Up At The Race Riots' Back In Print This Year via The Playlist

Fans of the filmmaker already know that his 1998 novel, "A Crack Up At The Race Riots" is something many followers of his work have been eager to get their hands on. The book was briefly available upon publication before swiftly going out of print and then off the map for years, though it's been traded around in some circles. However, the fine folks at Drag City -- the mostly music label that also handled "Trash Humpers" when no one else woud -- will be reprinting Korine's work. Not so much a book as a collection of stories, scraps, jokes and more, we'll let this quote from Korine himself circa 1997 describe what he put together.

"It's about a race war and it happens in Florida. And the Jewish people sit in trees. And the black people are run by M.C. Hammer. And the whites are run by Vanilla Ice. I wanted to write the Great American Choose Your Own Adventure novel," he said.

EXCLUSIVE: Spring Breakers helmer Harmony Korine, on the verge of having his first breakout hit after a most eclectic career, has made a deal for his next film to be produced by John Lesher’s Le Grisbi Productions and DCM Productions. Spring Breakers will open wide this week through A24 after garnering a huge per-screen average in limited release, starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and the director’s wife, Rachel Korine.

The title and log line of the new film are under wraps, but I’ve heard it involves a multi-generational family of criminals in the South. Spring Breakers producer Charles-Marie Anthonioz will also produce the film. This is likely to be Korine’s next directorial effort, but he is also developing projects with Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures; she bought Spring Breakers at Toronto last fall. Korine’s new jail-bait sex kittenesque heist film seems to finally have delivered on the commercial promise he showed with his early breakout film, Kids. Some of his follow-ups, including Trash Humpers, you could imagine David Lynch watching and going, “What the hell? This is really out there.” Lesher has long been a Korine supporter; he was his agent for many years at UTA and then Endeavor, before he took the top job at Paramount and then became a producer.

Lesher most recently produced End Of Watch, and he also produced Blood Ties, the English-language debut of Guillaume Canet that stars Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis and James Caan. Lesher’s about to begin production in New York on the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu-directed dark comedy Birdman with Michael Keaton, Ed Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts, and Black Mass, the Barry Levinson-directed crime thriller that will star Johnny Deep as Boston crime kingpin Whitey Bulger.

Berlin-based production/distribution company DCM’s production division is run by Marc Schmidheiny and Christoph Daniel. They co-financed and produced the Dustin Hoffman-directed Quartet and the Oscar-nominated Norwegian film Kon-Tiki. CAA reps Korine.

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

The Two Hollywoods: The Screenwriters; Shane Black; Harmony Korinevia The New York TimesBy Lynn HirschbergPublished: November 16, 1997

Shane Black, at 35, already holds the record for the biggest script sale in movie history: $4 million for ''The Long Kiss Goodnight.'' Maybe he shouldn't have been the one to arrive first, but here he was, in the empty dining room of the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, waiting for Harmony Korine, the 23-year-old writer and director of ''Gummo,'' whose indie career took off two years ago with ''Kids,'' for which he wrote the script. Korine is running about 45 minutes late, which is what you'd expect: he enjoys his reputation for trying people's patience.

Black, who also wrote the scripts for ''Lethal Weapon'' and ''The Last Boy Scout,'' likes to be thought of as a rebel, but he's making millions in the studio mainstream. When Korine does finally arrive, looking as if he just fell out of bed, the two begin a colloquy that is not only about screenwriting but about identity.

Korine: Here's the big difference between us -- rich [pointing at Black], not rich [pointing at himself].

Black: No, no, no. Pal, you're in for some big dough.

Korine: I doubt it. I'm not really so interested in linear storytelling -- like, beginning, middle and end. Or the idea of some kind of contrived plot. The only thing I remember about films are scenes and characters. So when I write movies, I'm basically writing only things that I want to see, with nothing leading up or nothing following. Just those scenes on their own.

Black: But even in your film ''Kids'' there is suspense. Which means the story is going from A to B. You're waiting to see if something's going to happen. In other words, it's not just shot in random order over a few months. You find out this kid has contracted H.I.V., he's trying to scam on this 13-year-old girl. And the suspense is, Is he going to give AIDS to this 13-year-old girl? And people are waiting to see the story unfold. So I think there is a narrative that's very strong.

Korine: Yeah, there was with that. I mean, I wrote it for someone else. Basically, for me the plot of ''Kids'' wasn't what was interesting. That just gave me an excuse to show these scenes. Collage is the ultimate art form of this century. Film is the great art form of the century, and most conducive to a collagelike style. But collage still has yet to take hold in film. Everybody's still making these really simple kind of ----.

Black: Formulaic.

Korine: Formulaic. No subtext. Everything is just easy, basic, minimum, no personality.

Black: You're right. There have been no good movies in the last few years. I do think the challenge, in a way for me, is to write a narrative film and when you finish watching it you feel like it's a collage. You tell the narrative, you tell the story, but you feel like you've created this tapestry. But it also has a shape, a story. So I think there's a middle ground that I try to strike. It isn't quite as revolutionary as where you go. But it's certainly in that direction -- and away from where everyone else seems ready to go, which is, setup, payoff. You know, He's afraid of water, oh, and at the end he's swimming in water -- oh, my God. I hate that stuff.

Korine: I never think about the audience. Never. I mean it's never even occurred to me, ever.

Black: You won't go to see ''Jurassic Park'' or something, a Spielberg film, just to have fun?

Korine: I think it's important that there are films like that.

Black: Why?

Korine: Because I do think that kind of mindless entertainment -- I think that's important. I think that there's a history of that. I don't think that every movie should be something that smashes you in the head or teaches you something or is revolutionary.

Black: Are you trying to teach things with your film?

Korine: Oh, no, no, no.

Black: I think about the audience in the sense that I serve as my own audience. I have to please myself the way, if I saw the movie in a theater, I would be pleased. Do I think about catering to an audience? No. Do I think about satisfying people with a good story? Yes. But I would never compromise anything to accommodate what I perceive to be the demands of the public.

The worst of the action films are the ones where everything is one shout from beginning to finish. And there's no differentiation between beats, like small or big, or quiet or expansive. It's all just one loud shout. And by the end, the audience has been beaten in the face so many times, you could blow up the Taj Mahal and they'd go, ''O.K., that's nice.'' Because they've seen so much. They're just dead. We're in a culture where people want to be deafened, apparently. And there's an elegance, which is somehow missing. It used to be that when people talked, they talked in a very communicative way. They varied their tone, they varied their pitch. Now they just yell at you until you fall down. And that's what I don't like. But my films are bombastic enough. I mean, I have no business trashing other ----.

Korine: What are your movies -- ''Lethal Weapon''? And ... what else?

Black: ''The Last Boy Scout.''

Korine: Oh, yeah. I saw those.

Black: ''The Long Kiss Goodnight.''

Korine: I don't remember. I don't think I saw that. Who's in that one?

Black: [laughs] Nobody saw that. That's cool. I understand. Believe it or not, I'm really only interested in doing my own thing. I've turned down lots and lots of work. Things that could have made me some money. But in the long run, you look at each of these films and I really think I made the smart move by turning them down.

Korine: I'm making my films the way I want to make my films. I'm happy, I can sleep at night. [pause] Actually, I can't sleep at night. I am an insomniac.

Black: I don't sleep that well, either. [pause] Man, I mean, I used to think I was sort of rebellious. I'm sitting here feeling like a hit man talking to Mother Teresa.

Korine: What do you want?

Black: I'm still finding it. I'm still finding what it is I want to write. It's, like, the next thing I do, I don't know what it's going to be, but it's going to be different from what I've done before. You look at Lawrence Kasdan, one of my favorite writers. He wrote ''Star Wars'' movies, he wrote ''The Accidental Tourist,'' ''Body Heat.'' Who knows, you might write a romantic comedy.

Korine: Sure. I never say I won't do anything.

Black: A romantic comedy without a narrative? [laughter]

Korine:: I'm not setting anything in stone. I always liked the idea of going against, or going back. That's interesting to me.

Black: What has been the reaction ... I mean, since you've done ''Kids''? Obviously, you got a lot of attention. Did your life change?

Korine: I don't live in California. So I have no friends in the film business. I don't know anybody.

Black: That explains it.

Korine: Completely. Also it's my work to make everything seem as if it's not written, as if it's just happening. But everything is totally thought out and written.

Black: So you do believe, not in narrative, but in control from start to finish of a film?

Korine: Oh, yeah.

Black: Would you ever want to work with an established movie star?

Korine: Personally, I have no interest in it. I have no interest in anyone that's, like, a professional. The idea of being a pro or someone who does it over and over again ... it's a job. Actors, to me, they fail to startle.

Black: So Kevin Costner comes to you ----.

Korine: [laughs] Maybe. I mean, I wouldn't ... I mean, I would do something with him. Like, if I felt like I could make him do something he'd be embarrassed about or something, you know what I mean? And I like Tom Cruise. I had the idea of making ... did you ever read the Guinness Book of World Records? There's this great photo of Eddie Gaedel. The St. Louis Browns once paid a midget, Eddie Gaedel, to go up to bat. ''Don't swing, just let him throw the ball'' -- and that's what he did. So Eddie Gaedel walked to first base. I want to write a movie about Eddie Gaedel and have Tom Cruise play him on his knees. [laughter]

Harmony Korine Is Writing A Gangster Movie For Robert Pattinsonvia The Playlist

In early May, Robert Pattinson revealed that he might make a movie with Harmony Korine. There wasn't much else in the way of details at the time, but a few more nuggets have been revealed, and yes, it's the sort of unlikely pairing of actor and material we'd expect from any working with Korine.

In a recent profile in Esquire UK, the magazine reveals that Korine is writing a Miami-set, gangster movie for the actor. Could this be the same movie as the Southern set, multi-generational, crime family picture that was announced in early 2013? It's not certain, but we don't think it's a coincidence that these sound pretty similar. And credit Pattinson for making this happen, as he reportedly called Korine out of the blue, and the next thing you know, they were working together. If and when it happens, we'll just have to see, but it's another chance for Pattinson to continue trying something different, which seems to be his modus operandi.

“I never went to acting school, so this is just me trying to get better," he said of his diverse choices, adding: “I’ve literally only done jobs which interest me. There have been two which I auditioned for and didn’t get, but other than that…” And when it comes to stepping back into the blockbuster, franchise world, Pattinson is reluctant.

"A couple of offers, but with those things, if you express any interest, you have to do a screen test or whatever, and they make you sign a six-picture deal before you even know what the part is. It’s crazy. And I didn’t grow up reading comic books and stuff, so…” he explained.

Pattinson has even more brewing in the background, including the previously announced "Childhood Of A Leader." The film is from writer/director/actor Brady Corbet, and while production was first announced to start last spring, it didn't happen, but it's still developing. “It’s about the youth of a future dictator in the Thirties,” Pattinson said. “Like an amalgamation of Hitler, Mussolini and some others. I don’t want to jinx it, but Brady is like a savant of film. I’ve known him for like eight years, and he’s only 25 now.”

Harmony Korine’s “The Trap” is finalizing its major casting pieces and three more actors have joined the cast, “Luther,” “The Wire” star Idris Elba, evidently the new lead actor, James Franco and Al Pacino in supporting roles. They join the already cast Robert Pattinson and Benico Del Toro in additional supporting roles.

What does this mean for the originally cast Jamie Foxx? Well, he’s dropped out of the project and has been replaced by Elba. But his loss is really the “Thor” actor’s gain as aside from TV work, Elba hasn’t scored many plum lead film roles yet and this sounds like the part.

“The Trap” is set in Miami’s music scene and is a revenge and crime tale set within that milieu. Elba will play a gangster rapper and Del Toro will play his best friend. THR says in “The Trap” Elba’s characters “ is at the top of his career and about to enjoy a triumphant night at the Grammy Awards when Slim (Del Toro) is released from prison after 14 years. Slim is determined to exact revenge after learning that Rico not only achieved fame and fortune but also married his girlfriend and raised Slim's son as his own.” Del Toro's uzi-wielding crew also features Pattison and Franco who sound like typical Korine character freaks. Pacino will play Del Toro's parole officer.

Korine has recently said the film will loosely incorporate elements of the electro-rap music genre popularized by Gucci Mane. “You could almost say there’s some type of Florida trilogy going on,” he said, in reference to “Spring Breakers” and… perhaps another film in the works?

Focus Features are in talks to pre-buy the film before it even a frame of film has been shot. No word on a release date, but “The Trap” begins shooting very soon (Del Toro said March a few months back, but April sounds more feasible now). It’s possible we could see it at a film festival later this year, but that’s a tough turnaround. Even if it did pop up somewhere, you can almost guarantee a proper theatrical release date probably won’t hit until 2016.